Galaxy Quest

Starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Daryll Mitchell and Sam Rockwell
Screenplay by Robert Gordon
Directed by Dean Parisot
website: amazon.com/galaxyquest/

IN SHORT: ExLargePopCorn with replicated buttery topping recommended. [Rated [PG]]

It must be an actor's worst dream; to find fame in a second rate role on a cheesy SF teevee show that refuses to die and to spend the rest of their professional lives signing autographs at fanboy filled conventions. From the opening scene of Galaxy Quest, in which cheap TV sets reek of limburger when blown up to bigscreen size, to the very last title card promising all-new episodes of the show, this movie delivers what every other Star Trek parody has failed to do. It delivers laughs without any required knowledge of any teevee show. All you need to know is how fanatical a show's followers are (though die hard Trekkers will roll at some of the gags buried in the performances, especially at Tim Allen's take on the Captain Kirk-like Commander Peter Quincy Taggart of the N.S.E.A Starship Protector) and you're in the groove of the flick -- and that groove is delightfully silly.

So here we have the miserable supporting cast (Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Daryll Mitchell) and the lead actor (Allen) who revels in the nororiety. The fanboys wear the costumes, don the alien prosthetics, yell out the captain's motto "Never give up. Never surrender." and wait for autographs. The "actors" mumble and gripe at each other under their breaths. When four "Thermians" show up, humbly requesting the help of their heroes, nothing seems out of the ordinary.

No one seems to remember that Galaxy Quest never featured a race of aliens called Thermians. These "real" aliens do not understand the concept that television isn't fact and, when a hungover Commander manages to negotiate an intergalactic conflict into a full scale war, everybody gets to ride the spaceways. The Thermians have built a replica of the Protector based on the "historical documents" beamed through space. The actors have no idea what they're doing, and the alien villain Sarris (Robin Sachs) wants blood. ILM does the special effects, which means everything looks especially cool

Usually December means a lot of almost three hour monstrosities or warm and cuddly family flicks. For those of us in between that need a good popcorn fix, Galaxy Quest fills the bill nicely. The Trekkers behind me were going bananas and, though I've never put on the ears, I had a fine time, too.

On average, a first run movie ticket will run you Eight Bucks. Were Cranky able to set his own price to Galaxy Quest, he would have paid...

$5.00

It's a date flick, pure and simple.

	Click to buy films by Dean Parisot
	Click to buy films starring Tim Allen
	Click to buy films starring Sigourney Weaver

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